Customer service

Philosophaster · Post by **Philosophaster** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 12:03 pm

Basic math is too tough for two Verizon employees.

At one point the manager says, "I'm not a mathematician."

And, "It's obviously a difference of opinion."

Ugh.

Dan Rowden · Post by **Dan Rowden** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 1:16 pm

God damn. I feel guilty about laughing at that. That's dumb x 100.

What the hell happened to education anyway?

Kevin Solway · Post by **Kevin Solway** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 1:49 pm

This is a typical case of people being unable to recognize that A=A.

That is, complete lack of consciousness.

Iolaus · Post by **Iolaus** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 1:57 pm

That is, complete lack of consciousness.

Actually, what it is, a lot of people are really crummy at math.

And I have to tell you, a lot of them are nurses.

Steven Coyle · Post by **Steven Coyle** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 2:08 pm

Are you a nurse, Iolaus?

(Marsha comes to mind)

Philosophaster · Post by **Philosophaster** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 2:18 pm

It really baffles me that neither of them even began to understand what was going on, even after the guy gave each of them a clear explanation several times. And if you were to encounter either of those employees on the streets, I doubt that they would strike you immediately as babbling fools; but try to talk about any kind of math with them, and you might as well be talking to a baboon.

Tharan · Post by **Tharan** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 4:03 pm

Being an IT guy myself, I loathe calling customer service for some basic connectivity related question. I have come up with a solution though. When they guy begins to ask if the computer is on and is it plugged in, etc., I tell him that my DNS, firewall, and subnet mask are unchanged. And I tell him that I have already put a Fluke on the line and it is drawing zero feed, so please move to page 3 of your little manual and escalate me to someone who can actually check the switch. If he gives me any lip, I tell him that I am watching him remotely through a hidden cam I have set up and I have his credit report displayed on my PDA through a wirless connection I am getting from my neighbor. And if he still does not do what I say, I say I will tell his girlfriend about all the porn subscriptions he has on record with his credit card. At that point, he works for me.

Dan Rowden · Post by **Dan Rowden** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 4:13 pm

It was odd. It was such a simple issue. The poor guy's frustration was palpable.

I wonder if her ever paid the bill. Hope not.

Katy · Post by **Katy** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 4:23 pm

Dan Rowden wrote:It was odd. It was such a simple issue. The poor guy's frustration was palpable.

I wonder if her ever paid the bill. Hope not.

Well this is why we read the contract and not just trust the sales rep... because he did probably get stuck with that bill because of that... Know what you're writing your name on!

That said, this made me sad. :(

Katy · Post by **Katy** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 6:05 pm

Philosophaster wrote:Basic math is too tough for two Verizon employees.

At one point the manager says, "I'm not a mathematician."

And, "It's obviously a difference of opinion."

Ugh.

Apparently, it's not an isolated incident - but the man was given a refund See here?

Dan Rowden · Post by **Dan Rowden** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 8:16 pm

It's all pretty scary, but I think maybe the guy should have smelled a bit of a rat when they offered a .002 cent per kb rate. I mean, who can offer anything that cheap?

Katy · Post by **Katy** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 8:19 pm

Dan Rowden wrote:It's all pretty scary, but I think maybe the guy should have smelled a bit of a rat when they offered a .002 cent per kb rate. I mean, who can offer anything that cheap?

well the really sad thing is that they say that all the time... and they never mean it. This guy was probably really out to create a point out of it more than actually believing it.

Kevin Solway · Post by **Kevin Solway** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 10:13 pm

Dan Rowden wrote:It's all pretty scary, but I think maybe the guy should have smelled a bit of a rat when they offered a .002 cent per kb rate. I mean, who can offer anything that cheap?

There are a thousand kilobytes in a megabyte, which means that, at .002 cents per kb, the charge would be 2 cents per megabyte, or US$20 per Gigabyte (about AUD$25).

1Gb isn't very much, so US$20 seems like a reasonable charge to me. Instead, they were charging a hundred times more than that.

I think the confusion was partly the fault of the caller, for not making the problem clearer than he did. But I think they had worn him down.

He could have said something like:

"Let's say the charge was 1 cent per kilobyte, and I used one kilobyte. What would the charge be? Multiply one cent by one kilobyte and the result is one cent. (then simply replace the numbers with .002 and whatever his number of kb was, for a result in cents)"

Iolaus wrote:Actually, what it is, a lot of people are really crummy at math.

In a way it's bad maths. I seem to recall one of the IT staff saying that .002 dollars and .002 cents were the same thing.

This is bad maths on the level of A=A.

It's getting to the stage where, when we are talking to people on the phone, we will need to specify that we need to talk to someone capable of basic logic. However, the person you are speaking to will totally incapable of understanding what you are saying.

Iolaus · Post by **Iolaus** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 3:49 am

"Let's say the charge was 1 cent per kilobyte, and I used one kilobyte. What would the charge be? Multiply one cent by one kilobyte and the result is one cent. (then simply replace the numbers with .002 and whatever his number of kb was, for a result in cents)"

At one point while listening, I grabbed a calculator, input .002 X 35,783 and got exactly 71.78 (cents). It was very quick.

Yeah, I'm a nurse.

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